Halsey has slammed those who "vilify people with mental illnesses".
The ‘Without Me’ hitmaker referenced Kanye West’s bizarre Twitter rant, where he claimed his wife Kim Kardashian is "trying to lock him up".
In a lengthy Twitter post, she shared: "No jokes right now. I have dedicated my career to offering education and insight about bipolar disorder and I’m so disturbed by what I’m seeing. Personal opinions about someone aside, a manic episode isn’t a joke. If you can’t offer understanding or sympathy, offer your silence … A lot of people you know probably have bipolar disorder and you aren’t aware of it. Taking this opportunity to make offensive remarks and vilify people with mental illnesses is really not the way to go… this is the exact triggering shit that causes people to keep quiet about it … You can hate someone’s actions or opinions without contributing to stigma that damages an entire community of sometimes vulnerable people all for a couple of laughs. If you wanna think someone is an asshole, go ahead. Lots of people with mental illnesses are great. Lots of them are assholes. Because they are people. With nuanced personalities. But making jokes specifically targeted towards bipolar hurts more than the 1 person ur angry with … Sincerely, Human Being with a Decade Long Bipolar Diagnosis. (sic)"
Halsey – whose real name is Ashley Frangipane – had previously opened up about her own mental health battles, revealing she has "been committed" to a mental health facility twice since finding fame.
She said: "I’ve been committed twice since [I became] Halsey, and no one’s known about it. But I’m not ashamed of talking about it now. It’s been my choice. I’ve said to [my manager], ‘Hey, I’m not going to do anything bad right now, but I’m getting to the point where I’m scared that I might, so I need to go figure this out.’ It’s still happening in my body. I just know when to get in front of it."